Invisible Parallels
by Dream Pyre
Summary: L compares himself to Kira. He tells them that he is justice, pure, trying to help the world. He doesn't tell anyone that he's a liar. Darker look at L: he may be right, but he isn't that good. Edited.


L character study, edited for punctuation, minor stylistic elements, and changed Raito to Light. Enjoy.

* * *

L does not work for justice.

There is a part of him, admittedly, that likes to see the criminals caught, likes to watch the videos and tapes of the courtroom, or go there and watch as Ryuuzaki, and likes to see the criminals and be able to say, even if only in his head, _there, you have what you deserve, we are equal now._ I won.

But there is far more of him that does not care about justice, like a child on a video game—they try as hard as they can to defeat the evil monster, but not because it is evil. He knows of Matt's games and Near's toys, and sometimes he wonders what Mello plays with. And that's why he considers Mello for the next L: not because of his intelligence, because all of Wammy's orphans have the intelligence, but because he suspects that Mello plays with humans, the same way L does, the way Near and Matt and the rest really can't imagine doing to other humans, at least not yet.

L is L because it entertains him. He sees it in similar terms to a video game, sometimes. Every criminal is a new level, a new challenge, just leading him on to the next one when he finishes. Except, unlike games, there is no limit to the criminal levels, though L doesn't think that he will ever find a level as difficult as Kira's.

Not that, in some ways, Kira was that difficult. L knows that Light is Kira; it wasn't hard to figure out. If he wanted, he could have Light arrested, probably convicted. The name of L carries a lot of weight, and if L wanted to take the time to explain all the things he'd noticed, all the little things that whispered all together to scream _guilty_, he could. If he wanted to, he could have Light arrested.

But he doesn't. That would take away the challenge. So he leaves Light alone, as he tries to find evidence, evidence that any normal policeman could use to arrest Light, because as L he could point to anyone on the street and call them guilty and they would be convicted. And he encourages Light, increasing and decreasing his false percentages, trying to make him slip up enough to let L get some kind of evidence. And it's horribly difficult, beyond anything L has ever done before.

But that's why he's L. He's frustrated, annoyed at the repetition of getting so close to finding something conclusive and then watching Light pull it out of his grasp, _again_. But really, it wouldn't be worth it otherwise. And if L is annoyed, he's far more amused, entertained by a challenge on a level that he's never seen before—one that is actually challenging.

And sometimes, he wonders what he will do when—if, and he's never had the chance to consider that before—he wins. When Kira is gone, how can he find a case even half as challenging as this one? And, thinking about that, sometimes he hopes that Kira will win. To die that way, to have finally found someone who can challenge him and prove it, would be the greatest gift he could want; the end to the boredom that has plagued him as long as he can remember. And he knows that, between Near and Mello, Kira would be caught in the end, so no one can accuse him of abandoning the world, even if he cared.

L compares himself to Kira, saying that they're childish and hate losing. It's true, a little. He may be childish, but it's only Kira who hates losing. L would quite enjoy it, he thinks, if it ever happened. And he says that they both fight for their justice, which is a complete lie. Kira fights for justice. L fights for entertainment. And he finds everything related to Kira to be very entertaining.

L has another little act, unrelated to his claims of being justice. His sugar obsession isn't quite as bad as he makes it seem, and the way he plays with it is just another form of entertainment. He likes fruit too; sometimes even prefers the natural sugars to the artificial ones. He likes best when he can combine them, though, like chocolate-covered strawberries, fruit on cakes, and caramel and candy apples. The pure sugar does, however, serve to make Kira—and everyone else—underestimate him, so he continues while they are around.

L does not care about justice.

He wants entertainment.

In front of L is a caramel apple.

It is gone before the task force returns.


End file.
